Look Back ... to a Cheaha wildfire, 1998

Dec. 6—Dec. 6, 1948, in The Star: At the request of Anniston Hi-Y Council president Homer Sparks, who was present in the meeting, vice president Jimmy Thrash presided over a meeting of the council held in the YMCA headquarters yesterday afternoon. In the absence of the secretary, Betty Ann Gray acted in that capacity.

Dec. 6, 1998, in The Star: A raging wildfire in the Cheaha Wilderness had burned 400 acres of forest land south of Mount Cheaha as of late yesterday. Officials say arson was the cause of the blaze, which forced the closing of several trails. Helicopters were called in to dump water on the fire and three 20-man crews of specially trained Native American firefighters arrived yesterday evening to lend their expertise. Recent warm and dry weather has aggravated the danger, while the fire's location in a designated wilderness area limits the means with which firefighters can battle it.